Fluid coupling



Sept. 15 1942. Q LUBIXBY r AL 2,295,887

FLUID COUPLING Filed Dec; 12, 1.940

. v INVENTOES EOBEETLAP5LEY- (an L B/XBY Arron/vs)? vention.

the present invention.

Patented Sept. 15, 1942 FLUID COUPLING Carl L. Bixby and Robert Lapsley,Berrien Springs, Mich., assignors to Clark Equipment Company, Buchanan,

Michigan Mich, a co poration of Application December 12, 1940, SerialNo. 369,708

' 20 Claims. (Cl. 192-32) This invention relates to fluid couplings, andmore particularly is directed to certain features of construction andarrangement of the coupling parts to provide a coupling which may beeasily assembled and which may be utilized in connection with standardtypes of vehicle transmissions to facilitate the transmitting of drivefrom the 'engine to the transmission gearing.

One of the primary obiectsof the present invention is the provision of aconstruction in which the housing of the coupling, forming the drivenpart of the coupling, is arranged to protate shifting of the gears inthe transmission.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide acoupling in which the component parts may be readily assembled as abench assembly, and may then be assembled onto the clutch shaft or driveshaft of the transmission, and the transmission and clutch assembly maythen be assembled onto the motor and all of the parts will then bearranged in concentric alinement.

Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of astructuie in which no additional transverse partition in the bell andtransmission housing need be provided in order to provide a bearingsupport for the drive shaft, as

this shaft is supported in concentric relation by the pilot bearing inthe crankshaft and the front ,vide a clutching surface whereby afriction clutch may be directlyiengageable therewith to facilireadilyassembled insuccessive steps to provide a complete coupling unitwhichmay be handled as a unit in the assembly of the same between the engineand transmission.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the present invention, suchas'the simplicity of design of assembly and novel arrangement of theparts, will be more apparent from the following description which, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawing will disclose to thoseskilled in the art the particular construction and operation'of apreferred form of the present in- The single figure of the drawingcomprises a sectional view through a coupling and associated clutchmechanism embodying the principles of Referring now in detail to thedrawing, an engine crankshaft is indicated generally at i and 55 mountedupon the outer race of the bearing asby means of bolts 8. The bolts 8also secure the internally splined member 9 to the flywheel l, themember 9 being piloted into the rear face of the flywheel l and having ahub portion I. formed with the internal splines l2.

Disposed against a shoulder formed by the flange 6 and the bore ofthe,.flywheel l is a ball bearing" assembly l3, the outer race of thisassembly being disposed against the shoulder and the bearing preferablybeing of the packed type. Considering now in detail the fluid coupling,this coupling comprises a housing member II which has the rear facethereof formed to provide the radial clutchsurface I6. Mounted to theperiphery of the housing I'Sfby means of the.

studs is the flange portion l8 of a usual clutch assembly (not shown),including the clutch housing and the springs which normally urge theplate is is provided with a friction surface 20 of a desired type, andthe plate is secured by the rivets 22 to a hub 23 mounted in splinedengagement on the splines 24 of the drive shaft 25.

The shaft 25 extends into a change speed transmission (not shown), andhas formed at tlie end thereof a drive gear of the required type, andalso may have piloted in the end'thereof the stud end of a transmissionmain shaft. Any

coupling are enclosed within the bellend portion of atransmissionhousing, this housing having ,a transverse partitionpiloting the rear end of the shaft 25 and having means for sealing thebell housing relative to the transmission portion of the housing.

The shaft 15 forwardly of the splines is provided with a reduced portion28 terminating at its forward end in the stud portion 21 which isiournalled within the bearing assembly ii. The shaft is also providedwith a shoulder portion'll 'upon which is mounted the inner race of aball bearing assembly 29, which also is of the sealed typ The housing I!is provided with an inwardly directed annular hub a which issuitably ofconven-- the snap ring 43.

sembly 29, there being a snap ring 32 provided for locking the outerrace of the bearing assembly and the portion 30 against relativemovement in one direction,

' The housing 15 is also provided with an axially extending cylindricalportion 33 which is suitably counterbored to provide a bearing seat forthe ball bearing assembly 34. The inner race of this assembly is mountedagainst the splined shoulders 35 of a tubular sleeve member 36encircling the portion 26 of the shaft 25. This maintains. the sleeveand the housing l against relative axial movement, and also retains thehub portion 3'! of the impeller 38 in fixed engagement on the splines 39of the sleeve 36. Disposed between the bearings 29 and 34 is a lubricantseal which n comprises a spring disc 40 mounted upon the V retainingring 42 pressed against the inner race of the bearing assembly and heldin position by The disc 40 carries at its outer end the seal member 44which is suitably brazed thereto and which, by being mounted on thespring member 40, is normally urged into positive bearing contact withthe seal'ring t5 .carried between the portion 33 and the portion 30 ofthe housing 55. This holds the seal members 44 and 45 in pressureengagement to prevent any flow of lubricant therebetween, The members Mand d5 may be of any suitable alloy material suitable for this purpose,such as Nitrolloy or a similar bearing seal metal. The portion 30 of thehousing is also provided with the knockout openings 36 for disassemblingthe structure if desired. The forward end of the sleeve 36 is providedwith the splines 61 which engage with the splines l2 carried by theflywheel l, whereby the sleeve Ellis directly coupled to the flywheelfor direct rotation therewith whenever the engine is operated, and theend of the [tubular sleeve member 35 abuts the outer race of bearing :3to prevent axial movement in one direction.

The impeller 38, which is mounted upon the sleeve 36 and is driventhereby, is provided with the vane portion 38 and substantially closesthe.

annular concave portion of the housing I5, This vane portion 48 is alsoprovided with the annular ring portion $9 of conventional type, it beingunderstood that the impeller can be of any desired shape andconstruction insofar as the vanes and fluid coupling action areconcerned.

lubricant between the flanges 54 and 55, each of these flanges is.provided with a shallow groove within which is disposed a soft metalwire, such as .a copper or lead wire 51, so that when the two flanges 54and 55-are brought into pressure en gagement by means of: the studs 55,the wire will be mashed Within the two shallow grooves and will flowinto a perfect sealing engagement therewith, thereby positivelypreventing any flow of the toroidal middle ring between the vanes 38 and58 whereby the fluid in the coupling will circulate around the ringunder centrifugal pressure to provide the coupling action. The hubportion of the rotor 52 is provided with an extension 60 forming ashoulder for the bearing assembly 50, and also enclosing a sealingassembly corresponding to that found between the bearings 29 and 34 andidentified by corresponding reference numerals. This provides aneffective seal preventing the fluid from passing outwardly through thebearing 50.

The housing I5 is provided with two or more radially extendingpassageways 53 terminating at their inner ends in an annular inwardlyfacing channel 64 formed in the housing. This provides an oil retainerand discharge so that any oil thrown off from the bearing 28 or leakingthrough the seal it-B5 will be discharged outwardly through the ports 63and will not pass into the friction clutch portion ofthe assembly.

In the operation of the coupling assembly, it will be apparent thatrotation of the crankshaft 5 will drive the flywheel l, and consequentlywill rotate the sleeve 35. Rotation of this sleeve in turn effectscorresponding rotation of the impeller 38 and, with the fluid couplingfilled with oil,

centrifugal pressure p ill drive this oil radially outwardly around thering 59'and'therracressin'-w my pick up speed and rotate with theimpeller 36. By

the provision of the friction clutch i9, whichv is capable of bearingagainst the rear face it? of the 7 mission can be facilitated bydisengagement of the clutch, and the arrangement can be designed so thatthe friction clutch engages after the gears are shifted so that thetransmission of torque to the transmission gearing will be through thefluid coupling, and consequently a smooth picking up of the drive in thevarious speed ratios will be efiected. 4

The seal assemblies 44-45 insure little or no leakage of fluid outwardlyfrom the fluid coup while the seal 51 positively prevents any leakage offluid outwardly at the point of greatest centrifugal force.

In assembling the structure thus far described,

. the housing 15 has seal member 45 and hearing In order to form a sealto prevent the escape of fluid outwardly between the meeting faces ofthe two housings.

The rotor portion 52 of the coupling is provided with the vanes 58 andwith an annular ring portion 59 cooperating with the ring 49 to form a29 pressed into place, and is then placed in a suitable fixture and thefriction clutch plate l9 and driving assembly l8 are assembled in theirproper alinementa e.

All parts required to be assembled to the tubular' shaft 36 are thenassembled onto it and this assembly is then placed into the housing l5.

.The seal member 45 is then'pressed'into the housing 52 and thisassembly is then located'in position on housing I5 with the seal wire5lflaid in the grooves provided and the studs 55 drawn up} f r i Thiscompletes the assembly of the fluid coupling and frictionclutch-'n1'echanism; and

. entire mechanism then comprises a' asing the assemblyyof the fluidcoupling and friction clutch elements as a unit prior to the assembly ofthis mechanism between the transmission and the engine crankshaft.

This complete assembly can then be slipped onto the clutch shaft .25,and the composite transmission and clutch assembly installed on themotor in the usual manner, registering splines 41 into' teeth I! andpilot 21 into bearing l3.

We are aware that changes may be made in details of the fluid couplingstructure and other component parts illustrated in the invention withoutin any way departing from the underlying principles thereof. Wetherefore do not intend to be limited to the exact details of theconstruction herein shown and described, but only insofar as defined bythe scope and spirit of the appended claims.

We claim: f 1. In combination, a fluid coupling comprising 7 -a housing,an impeller within said housing, a

. tatably journalled on said sleeve and enclosing said impeller, a shaftextending through said sleeve and piloted at one end in said crankshaft,

and friction clutch means on said shaft engage-' able with said housingfor coupling said shaft 40 and housing together for conjoint rotation.

3. The combination of claim 2 further characterized by the provision ofbearing means between said housing and shaft beyond the opposite end ofsaid sleeve centering said housing relative to said shaft.

4. In combination, a sleeve member having a fluid impeller keyedthereon, a housing enclosing. said impeller and rotatably mounted onsaid sleeve, a shaft rotatably journalled coaxially of said housing andextending through said sleeve. and friction clutch means on said shaftengageable with a radial wall of said housing for couplingsaid housingand shaft together.

-5. In combination, a sleeve member having a splined portionintermediate its ends, a fluid impeller keyed on said portion,- ahousingenclosing said impeller and including a -rotor driven from saidimpeller, bearings on said sleeve on oppo-' adapted to be deformed bysaid bolting to'seal the flanges-"against leakage therepast.

"I, The combination of claim 5 further characterized in the provision ofa shaft extending through said sleeve, and a bearing between saidhousing and shaft holding them in coaxial aline- 4 ment. h

' 8 A fluid coupling comprising a sleevemember mounted on said sleeveportion, annular bearing seats on each end of said splined portion,bearings thereon, and a two piece housing enclosing said impeller andincluding a rotor portion driven from said impeller, said housing-beingjournalled .on said bearings.

9. The couplingof claim 8 further characterized by means engaging oneend of said sleeve for driving said sleeve.

101 The coupling of claim 8 further characterized by the provision ofmating grooves in adjacent faces of each piece of said two' piecehousing, and a soft metal wire disposed in said grooves and deformableupon securing said faces together to form aseal therebetween.

. 11. The coupling of claim 8 further characterized in that one wall ofsaid housing is provided with a planar radial face adapted to be engagedby a friction clutch disc.

12. In combination,-a tubular sleeve, a ball bearing assemblyadjacent/one end thereof, an annular housing member of semi cylindricalform mounted on said bearing and opening toward the opposite end of saidsleeve, splines on said sleeve, a fluid impeller mounted on saidsplines, a second bearing assembly on said sleeve adjacent the other endof said sleeve,- and a second annular housing member mounted on saidlast-named bearing of semi-cylindrical form joined at its periphery tosaid first housing member and forming therein a rotor adapted to bedriven by said impeller.

13. The combination of claim 12 further characterized by the provisionof s'ealingmeans between the housing members and said sleeve forpreventing oil leakage outwardly beyond said bearings.

14. The combination of claim 12 further characterized by the provisionof means at one end of the sleeve for driving the same. Y

15. The combination of claim 12 wherein said first housing member has aplanar radial surface, a shaft extending through said sleeve, andfriction clutch means on said shaft engageable with said surface.

16. In combination, a driving shaft, a separable clutch shaft rotatablypiloted by and alined therewith, a tubular impeller shaft concentricwith and disposed about said clutch shaft and separately piloted by andconstantly driven by said driving shaft, a fluid impeller splined onsaid impeller shaft, bearings on said impeller shaft on opposite sidesof said impeller, a fluid rotor and a fluid housing memberconcentrically supported on said bearings, said member having a radialfriction face, a bearing carried by said clutch shaft to coaxially alinesaid housing mem her and clutch shaft, fluid seals between said impellershaft and said rotor and housing member,.

' a tubular sleeve encircling said driven shaft and.

driven from said driving shaft, bearings on op positeends of saidsleeve, a rotor and associated housing journalled on said bearings, animpeller shaft having splined connection with said impel ler for drivingthe same, axially spaced bearings on said shaft on opposite sides ofsaid impeller, a

rotor and housing carried on said bearings, a second shaft extendingaxially through said tubular shaft and having a bearing thereon enend,an internally toothed member on said end of said driving shaft aboutsaid driven shaft, a tubular sleeve coaxial with said driven shafthaving a splined end drivingly engaged in said member, axially spacedhearings on said sleeve, an intermediate splined portion on said sleeve,a fluid impeller thereon, arotor and housing for said impellerjournalled on said bearings, said rotor, housing, impeller and sleevebeing assembled as a unit and adapted to be positioned in drivingengagement with said driving shaft, a radial surface on said housing,and a clutch plate on said driven shaft engageable with said surface.

CARL L. BIXBY. ROBERT LAPSLEY.

